A Greenwich developer is adding a $200 million project to his list of developments in Connecticut with The Haven, a plan for 100 stores and restaurants in West Haven.

Meeting with West Haven officials last week, Sheldon M. Gordon, chairman of Gordon Group Holdings in Greenwich, introduced plans for The Haven -- measuring almost 350,000 square feet -- that would be built in the city's Water Street district. Gordon is undertaking the project with Ty Miller, principal in Dallas-based Highland Park Village Associates, a real estate investor and developer of retail destination centers.

Gordon, who has been developing retail complexes across the country for 46 years, developed The Shops at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, as well as Bridgemarket in New York City, The Forum Shops in Las Vegas and The Pier Shops at Caesars in Atlantic City. His firm also is involved with construction of The Outlet Shoppes at Foxwoods in Ledyard.

"This large-scale development will offer a premier outlet center featuring the best, highest-quality stores of the world," Gordon, a Greenwich resident, said in a statement. Matt Armstrong, executive vice president of development at Gordon Group Holdings, credited the Dallas-based company as the driver of the West Haven project.

Gordon said the site is ideal because it offers ample parking and easy access to Intersate 95, and it's in the heart of the bustling southern Connecticut corridor, which serves about 3 million people in some of the most affluent communities in America.

West Haven Mayor Edward O'Brien said he believes the privately financed, two-phase waterfront development would make West Haven a major destination in the Northeast, much like in its heyday of the Savin Rock amusement park, which was the city's main shoreline attraction and economic resource for decades until its demise in 1966.

"This is an exciting time for the city of West Haven and its residents," O'Brien said, adding he envisions it spurring other retail development. "In the days ahead, this project will change the landscape of West Haven, will drive the creation of jobs for the area and will steer the future development of our city."

Commenting that West Haven residents have waited many years for a project like The Haven to happen, O'Brien said the development would create more than 1,200 retail-related jobs, as well as hundreds of construction jobs, and generating more than $3 million in annual tax revenue for the city.

Since December 2013, Gordon has negotiated the purchase of most of the private properties in the area, said city Planning and Development Commissioner Joseph Riccio Jr., who has also been meeting with Gordon and his associates.

Estimating that 25 property owners would be affected, O'Brien said the city is working with them to relocate within West Haven.

Plans also call for a surface parking lot with more than 2,000 spaces, including areas for valet and covered parking, and Gordon said he expects to break ground on the project's initial construction phase by March 2015 and open in fall 2016.

"Developers are reinvesting in their current assets and raising the occupancy level and revenue," said Jesse Tron, spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers. "Three hundred thousand square feet is a good-size open-air property. You're more likely to see it in areas that have rebounded better from the recession. Developers do their homework. It's probably a good sign that the local economy and consumers will support it."

O'Brien said he and Gordon have been meeting with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to address the project's complex transportation requirements, including enhancements to nearby I-95 exit ramps.